10th Media Monitor

of the first class,

or 7th Bonus (last bonus) here

For the first class: The 10th Media Monitor, or any bonus not yet submitted, can be posted here. The 7th and last bonus is on the coverage of any May Day event 2017 or Labor Day 2017, or events related to Labor Day on, before, or after May 1, 2017 (any news, feature story, interview- analysis, photo essay, video docu, etc). Deadline: May 3 at 12 noon.

Reminder: All presenters who have not reported must be ready next week. Any presenter whose name is called and is not ready will get a score of zero. Exams will push thru as scheduled after next week. Happy long weekend and Labor Day everyone!

The article published by the Philippine Star reports the cries of different labor groups–Kilusang Mayo Uno and other organizations under the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), including urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino–on May 1, Labor Day. At the same time, the article also included the Palace’s response through Presidental Spokesperson Ernesto Abella.

The article follows the provision in the Expanded PPI Code of Ethics which states that: “Getting the other side is a must, especially for the most sensitive and critical stories. The other side must run on the first take of the story and not any day later.” Furthermore, it also follows the Expanded PPI Code of Ethics provision which states that “Single-sourced stories must be avoided as a rule. There is always the imperative to get a second, third or more sources, the contending parties to an issue, the expert source, the affected party, the prominent and the obscure, in the story.”

Because the article reports on the cries of different labor groups at the same time the administration’s response, the aforementioned provisions were followed and thus, the articled published by the Philippine star is an example of a good practice.

The post discusses about how the workers prior to the huge mobilization day last May 1 are awaiting for President’s “surprise gift”. Workers are said to be clamoring for Duterte to make good on his promise to end the abusive contractualization work scheme and to see him fulfill his mantra to challenge the Philippine oligarch according to Associated Labor Union (ALU) spokesman Alan Tanjusay. It is followed by an announcement of more than 20,000 marching in Mendiola to heed the President’s demands.

The article ended with an explanation from the side of the administration from Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III who earlier said that Duterte cannot go against the law and issue an order banning all forms of contractualization and stressed that a law must be enacted to ban all forms of contractualization adding that he is personally against a total ban on contractualization, since it could lead to closure of firms and adversely affect the country’s economy.

This news does not violate any code of ethics and has actually portrayed a good practice of the following provisions from the Expanded PPI Code of Ethics despite highlighting the militant groups who were about to march for Labor day because it cited the administration’s take on the issue:

“Getting the other side is a must, especially for the most sensitive and critical stories. The other side must run on the first take of the story and not any day later.”

“Single-sourced stories must be avoided as a rule. There is always the imperative to get a second, third or more sources, the contending parties to an issue, the expert source, the affected party, the prominent and the obscure, in the story.”

The article “Group warns of workers’ ‘uprising’ over worsening poverty” which was written by Julie Aurelio talks about the Associated Labor Unions’ talks about laborers’ dissatisfaction with Duterte’s administration, especially because workers’ minimum wage purchasing power has decreased from P491 to P361 which is below the poverty level. They warned the government of an uprising among the working poor.

The article generally showed good ethical practice of newswriting and more specifically, these provisions from the SPJ Code of Ethics showed:

“Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable. Give voice to the voiceless.”
“Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience. Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear. :
Aurelio highlighted the workers’ struggles, which we do not hear much about. Through her interview with the ALU, she was able to hold the government accountable without sounding too biased in favor of the workers. Although it was probably written only because it was Labor Day, the article was still able to inform those who may not be aware of the laborer’s struggles.

However, the article also violated the SPJ Code of Ethics provision which states that journalists must “[d]iligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing.” In the article, the side of the Duterte administration regarding the issues raised by laborers was not mentioned in any time. The story, thus, was not able to get all sides of the story, and because of that, was biased.